2 U.S.-Trained Afghans Arrested

Afghan authorities arrested two gunmen who had been working for U.S. forces Monday after an attack on the security chief of the eastern city of Khowst.

A spokesman for Mohammed Ebrahim Mashfeq, governor of Khowst province, said the men arrested were part of a U.S.-trained band who defied efforts to disarm them Sunday by the city’s security chief, Sur Gul.

Gul was unhurt in the ensuing shootout, but his driver was killed and two people were injured. The band retreated to a nearby air base where U.S. Special Forces troops are stationed. The men were arrested outside the base.

“There was bad blood between Gul and the men who did not want to give up their weapons,” the spokesman said.

Gulbuddin, a senior aide of Afghan Defense Minister Mohammed Qassim Fahim, dismissed the incident.

“There are mercenaries all over this area. They change sides all the time,” he said. “They are a nuisance but not a threat.”